Eircom adds 138,000 broadband subscribers

This morning Eircom said it is nearing 608,000 broadband subscribers, out of which retail subscribers amounted to 434,000 at the end of its fourth quarter.

Revenue for the full year increased €2.06bn and adjusted EBITDA was €698m.

In the fixed-line segment, broadband take-up increased 138,000 to 593,000 at the end of June, up 30pc year over year. By 15 August this had increased to 608,000, out of which retail subscribers account for 434,000.

Eircom said it estimates broadband penetration in Ireland now stands at 26pc of the population, up from 13pc in January last year.

Meteor’s mobile subscriber base grew 12pc to 983,00 people and the group achieved a 24pc increase in revenues of €481m.

During the year, Eircom selected Ericsson to build out its 3G network in Ireland with trials currently under way. Meteor now has 19pc of Ireland’s mobile market.

The company said that it has reduced company headcount by 621 and is en route to achieving the 900 headcount reduction target by 2010.

Cashflow on capital investment was €331m, which Eircom says is almost half of the total estimated expenditure by the industry in Ireland.

The company has committed to spending €1bn on improving its nationwide infrastructure between 2006 and 2009.